René Descartes, Discourse de la Méthode ... (Leiden, (Netherlands): Jan Maire, 1637), appended book: La Géométrie, book one, page 299. From page 299: " ... Et aa, ou a2, pour multiplier a par soy mesme; Et a3, pour le multiplier encore une fois par a, & ainsi a l'infini ; ... " ( ... and aa, or a2, in order to multiply a by itself; and a3, in order to multiply it once more by a, and thus to infinity ; ... )
This definition of "involution" appears in the OED second edition, 1989, and Merriam-Webster online dictionary [1]. The most recent usage in this sense cited by the OED is from 1806.